The Different Shades Of Love
by azumiyuka
Summary: A two-parter story for Valentine's Day. Because love has different shades. "Bzzt. Bzzt. She's cold and she's cruel/But she knows what she's doin-" "Seriously! Just The Girl's your ringtone for Hotaru Imai!" "It's not funny-OH SHI-" Two guys, two girls, a handphone number mystery to solve and it all started at the crack of dawn. Happy Valentine's Day. (NxM/RxH subtle pairing refs.)


**The Different Shades Of Love**

_For Hayami Minomushi and Misaki Harada's Ads (2013)_

_And a special mention to Janee Shuffle and Rinny Kagamine's Ads (2013)._

_I love you all V3_

_(w.w.w.f.a.c.e.b.o.o.k.c.o.m/g.a.k.u.e.n.a.r.i.s.u)_

* * *

**Because love has different shades. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!**

_DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE. BUT I OWN THIS STORY PLOT._

* * *

The crack of dawn has barely even arrived.

The rooster living in the Academy Farm hasn't even opened his mouth yet.

The sun's rays can hardly be seen on the horizon.

Still, amidst all these signs that herald the start of a wonderful new day, two male teenagers can be spotted running down one of Alice Academy's many sidewalks.

They're running pretty fast, and not because they're exercising or training for a marathon.

They're running for a much, _much better reason._

_They're running for their __**lives**__._

* * *

It all started back in the era of _who knows when. _Valentine's Day, that is. This guy called Valentine started the tradition, and generations after generations of people since his time have either loved it, hated it or both. Well, most girls adore it, _some _guys despise it, and that's just the people already in couples. Most singles usually wind up feeling sorry for themselves or depressed that they have nobody to share their stock of love with. The few singles who say they aren't upset are either lying or really swore off love ages ago.

The two guys running definitely don't subscribe to either option.

That's because one of them is already dating someone while the other is suffering from the pain of secret, unrequited love. Which means that the first has to waste tons of cash every V-Day while the latter cries into his pillow.

Painful.

Anyway, the two aforementioned boys are currently cursing St. Valentine's name as they run every few metres, panting and fully out of breath.

The already-hitched guy, who possesses raven hair, drop-dead gorgeous looks and broad, muscular shoulders, stops momentarily to calm his heart – already in overdrive. All this running was going to kill him someday, he was sure of it.

Sparing a glance over those wonderful shoulders of his, the beautifully devastating crimson orbs that he also owned widened in absolute horror as they zeroed in on something terrifying closing in on him and his best pal in the near distance.

_**Fan Girls.**_

Brandishing thousands of horrible looking gifts in their arms. Some were even trundling _trolleys piled high with gifts_ at breakneck speeds.

Hell.

He spun on his heel and hissed as softly as he could at the guy a few metres ahead of him on the path.

"Crap, Ruka! They're _still _following us! Run!"

With his prince-like face, shiny blonde locks and mesmerising cerulean eyes, Ruka Nogi looked at him in utter disbelief. His jaw slackened and finally dropped as he turned too and saw what his best friend spotted. Then, even as his soft hair blew gently in the wind, he turned back, almost mechanically, to face the front while his pal mirrors his movements.

They both have one leg forward, bodies angled and ready to move, plus a flame of determination literally lighting their eyes – both crimson and cerulean.

And one moment passes – and the lion and tiger roar.

* * *

It's been nearly 15 minutes more of non-stop running since they last paused, and Ruka is knackered and almost ready to throw in the towel. He eventually gasps and literally grinds to a halt. His shoes make a sharp screeching sound in the dirt, and grass and mud spray about in a rather annoying fashion. Beside him, his raven-haired friend groans, thinks for a split-moment and finally decides on something.

"Hey, Ruka."

"W-What?" Even as he answers, he's still gasping, feeling stitches in his side. He hasn't run this long in ages, even though he's been chased around the Academy a lot by a certain _Ice Queen_.

"I have an idea."

Ruka immediately feels the weight of the burden on his shoulders disappear, only for them to come back with his friend's next sentence.

"We ask Imai to help us out."

He almost glares back at his friend for the _absolutely crazy idea_, if not for the fact that he _does _have a valid point.

"I never thought I'd say this, to _you _of all people, but… _Are you crazy?! Asking that- That Witch?! _Granted, I know you've got a good point, but I thought you'd rather eat your own feet than ask _Ice Queen Hotaru Imai _for help, _ever. _Seriously-"

"I know, Ruka. _I know._ You're right; I'd rather eat my own _heart_ than ask Imai for help, in fact. But we _don't_ have a choice. I don't want to spend _Valentine's_ Day running for_ who-knows-how-long_. I have a date with Polka scheduled tonight, in approximately less than 16 hours and I _refuse _to be an idiot and screw it up. You don't know _how long_ Polka's been _talking my ear off_ about her _perfect_, _ideal_ Valentines' Day date. I've been sleeping at _two in the morning for the past week_ just planning everything. But the only way we can escape unscathed from the stupid Fan Girls is to ask Imai for help. And you're not_ liking_ my idea because _you like Imai_, but don't have the guts to confess to her and-"

"You mean _pay _Imai for help," mutters Ruka under his breath as he gives his pal _The Look. _"And I _do _have the guts to tell her. Just not… Now. Okay?"

Hearing him, Natsume Hyuuga sighs and his shoulders actually slump a little. He spares a glance at his smartphone's screen and checks the time.

**2.37 AM**.

Great. They started running since midnight broke even and they're still on the run. His spot at the Sakura Tree had been ambushed as expected, which was why he and Ruka had planned their escape route ages ago.

In fact, the two of them had been hiding behind the school's central rubbish dump since 10.00 PM the night before. Until a passing group of Fan Girls searching for them passed by around midnight, that is. And here he had initially thought most girls would _never_ dare venture near smelly rubbish just to hunt down their so-called idols.

How wrong he had been. Ugh.

"What now?" Ruka asks all of a sudden, an obvious sigh escaping his throat.

"… Well, I'm not asking Imai for help since you disagreed, and I understand and _agree _with your reason. So…"

"Keep running?"

"… Hn."

"We're hiding – _of ALL the places! – _In the NORTHERN WOODS, Natsume! Which we're NOT supposed to be wandering around in, especially at MIDNIGHT! I don't even want to think of the possible repercussions we'll suffer if we get LOST in here and-"

"Don't worry, I pretty much memorised the whole forest map," Natsume cuts in quickly, not wanting to terrify Ruka any further than necessary. He was clearly on the edge already as it was, running for hours from hordes of scary women.

Ruka gives him a quick glance, trust clearly obvious in his cerulean eyes.

"Okay," he finally says in a resolute tone.

On a tree nearby, something suddenly glints and shines. It surprisingly moves, angling in the boys' direction – unnoticed.

* * *

On the other side of the Academy, in the Girls' Dorms, a girl with pretty amethyst orbs is sitting at her desk, tapping away at her laptop keyboard every few moments. With every methodical keystroke, she brings up several windows, types things into them, closes them and rewinds video feeds – doing everything at practically light speed.

Her eyes narrow as she pulls up a video file labelled "Cam-245" and quickly stabs the _**Record **_button. The video feed instantly loops upon recognition and starts saving feed, taking still-shots of the running feed every 5 seconds. On the left of her desk, where the crystal amethyst-topped computer rests, is a printer busy churning out Polaroids in sets of tens.

The pictures beng printed clearly show two guys her age in all their sweaty-bodied glory. One has raven hair, the other blonde locks. Literally an angel and a devil; total opposites. She tries not to think about the fact that her glance rests a little longer than necessary on the blonde guy's face, and hurriedly busies herself adding 'embellishments' to half of the photos before she prints them out. That's the Deluxe Edition she'll be selling for 3 Rabbits, with the Basic Edition going at 1 Rabbit per piece. To take further advantage of today's _festive occasion_, she's intending to sell a special Limited Edition set costing 5 Rabbits as well. This L.E set will contain one bonus picture from _last year's _Valentine's Disaster.

Alice Academy's _infamous Ice Queen _Hotaru Imai leans comfortably back into her wheelie desk chair, already imagining the scent of the crisp new notes that'll be filling her wallet _this year._

She glances momentarily at her laptop screen.

**2.37 AM**.

And grins to herself.

Today is yet another money-making opportunity; one of many in Hotaru Imai's world.

The manual calendar pinned to the corkboard in front of her shows the current date circled with bright red Sharpie ink, catching her eye. Under the number, a couple of notes are scrawled in her neat handwriting.

_**February 14 2013**__._

_Money-Making Day (when is it NEVER?)_

… _Will He or Won't He? …_

She pauses for thought on the second note. The connotations of this particular note are rather… Disturbing with regards to herself.

And surprisingly, alone in her lilac-painted room with only the blinking computer lights for company, Hotaru Imai creases her face, sighs, thinks, and then reaches for the crystal amethyst-bodied phone that rests on the right of her desk.

* * *

_**Beep.**_

_**Beeeeeeeeep.**_

_**Fleedle-Deedle-Leedle!**_

_**Beep Beep Beep.**_

_**Beep-**_

It's now **2.45 AM** according to Natsume's smartphone screen, and the stupid device beeps incessantly, signalling the arrival of yet another message.

Spam. _From the accursed __**Fan Girls**__._

He mentally imagines burning them all to a crisp for a bit, before common sense returns to his consciousness, and he presses the "Mass Delete" button. While waiting for the phone to delete all the messages, he reaches towards his neck and draws a silver chain necklace out.

A few things are attached to the chain, one of them being _his Polka's Alice stone_, and some other important objects. Right now though, he's interested only in a small box shaped like a chocolate.

Ruka had given it to him for his last birthday, _"to keep small stuff about his person"_. He took it off the chain and opened the box –the lock being part of the chain to prevent things from falling out – and got out a small card with a chip in it.

**A spare phone number card.**

Heh. Natsume Hyuuga is always prepared._ Yesterday, today, tomorrow, always._

Quickly swapping the two phone cards once the phone is done deleting his messages, he breathes a sigh of thankfulness when the irritating beeping noises finally disappear. His inbox is also clear and his contacts intact. Perfect.

A soft crunching noise alerts the Black Cat to his best friend's arrival.

"Sorry you had to do guard duty while I did a Number Two back there, Natsume," Ruka apologises even as Natsume cringes visibly.

"I didn't need to know that, but sure, it's fine."

Ruka sits down heavily next to him on the leaves that litter the Northern Woods ground. They're _still_ in the same spot from some time ago, and _still_ haven't noticed the _shiny thing _affixed to a tree near them yet.

"… Any new ideas?"

"… No. But I want to ask you – did you get spam mail from the fan girls too?"

Ruka nods. "Luckily I brought a spare phone number card. I assume you must've brought yours?" He holds up a small box that looks identical to Natsume's except that it's in white.

It looks like White Chocolate, just like his own Dark Chocolate box.

Natsume wonders for a brief moment, about how their friendship symbols are able to reflect their personalities respectively and grins to himself, before re-focusing his attention on the matter at hand.

"How did they get our phone number?" he mutters to himself as he spins the metal device between his fingers.

"I dunno, Natsume. The only ones who know are our gang and some of the senpais like Andou-senpai, right?"

"Hn. Shadow and Harada, and a few of them. And our friends. That's it."

"You don't suppose…"

"What?"

"Maybe… Maybe Imai… Sold our phone number?"

Natsume snorts.

"I wouldn't put it past her if she wasn't in our Inner Circle. So far she's had our numbers for _years _and she hasn't betrayed our confidence. Not _yet_, at least. I guess it couldn't be her then, but who-"

"**Bzzt. Bzzt. She's cold and she's cruel/But she knows what she's doin-"**

Suddenly, Ruka's phone blasted into life, surprising both boys terribly. Ruka was so surprised the phone fell out of his grasp and landed on the dirt with a thud.

Quickly, Natsume grabbed the phone for him and passed it back, but not before he'd caught a glimpse of the caller's name. Meanwhile, the ringtone was still playing.

"**-she pushed me in the pool/At our last school reunio-"**

"_Seriously?! Just The Girl's your ringtone for Hotaru Imai?!" _Natsume snickers as his best friend's face colours into a shade he's never seen on him before.

"_It's not funny-OH SHI-"_

Suddenly, Ruka turns from just embarrassed to plain terrified. He'd forgotten something _very important_ due to his embarrassment…

* * *

**ONE WEEK AGO**

**Hotaru Imai's Laboratory**

**4.53 PM**

"Right then, Nogi. Hurry up and sign this, then go away. I have to make more inventions. Time is money."

Hotaru shoved a small stack of papers, about 5 pages thick and neatly stapled, across the coffee table towards Ruka. She then placed a blue pen next to the papers in an extremely bored manner.

The blonde teenager leaned forward, eyeing the papers with obvious distaste.

"Do I _have to? _I mean, I know this contract is here for me to sign because I lost the bet over when Natsume would ask Mikan-san out for Valentine's Day yesterday but I thought you were- _you know! Joking for once, maybe?!_" Ruka's horrified face simply made Hotaru grin more evilly than ever on the inside. She made sure she kept a straight face on the outside, however.

"I never joke, Nogi. You should know that by now. Now sign it, _and fast_. Or I'll be _very tempted_ to add some _extra_ clauses…"

That did it. Ruka grabbed the blue pen on the table, hurriedly scribbled it against the line at the bottom of the 5th page and slammed both pen and documents down on the table.

"There! Are you happy now?" he muttered irritably. Sure, he _liked her_, but that didn't mean he liked her blackmailing ways!

Hotaru eyed him critically. "Well, of course. Any money-making venture makes me very, _very_ happy, Nogi. But you might want to know the_ fine print_ of this contract. No backing out – you've already signed it. Let me see… Ah. Here's a _short_ list of rules you are required to follow…"

For the next ten minutes, Ruka could only stare in a daze into mid-air as the Ice Queen listed out a long –**long**– list of rules and regulations…

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

Shuddering visibly at the memory, Ruka stabbed his phone's Answer button as viciously as he could.

"-Nogi! What took you so long to answer the phone?! Do you or do you not remember the contract you signed? You've broken _Rule #24_ and therefore I'll be billing you later for that! Now-"

Ruka cringed as he remembered _Rule #24 -_ _**When Hotaru Imai calls Ruka Nogi on his phone, he is required to answer within 5 seconds or pay a fine **_– while Natsume laughed as quietly as he could, causing Ruka to glare at him with a _'What kind of best friend are you!?' _look. Natsume knew all about the contract, having heard the whole story from Koko when he'd accidentally read Ruka's mind last week.

"-Look, I'm sorry Hotaru, just-"

"Whatever, Nogi. Now, I have something to discuss with you and Hyuuga. _I know he's there with you._ So stop rolling your eyes and listen up, Hyuuga."

Natsume snorted, not at all surprised that she knew he was there with Ruka. However, he _did _wonder how she knew he was rolling his eyes-

Then he finally saw it.

A mini-video camera secured to a tree northwest of their current position. Of course.

_Of course._

He sighs inwardly, realising she must've been tracking them all along, and no doubt had plenty of new photos to sell off to their fan girls. But why would she call them all of a sudden and blow her cover so unprofessionally-

"Okay, Nogi and Hyuuga. Here's the deal. I won't sell your phone number to the fan girls _this year_ if you allow me to take _any _photos I want for the whole of today."

Ruka and Natsume stare at each other in disbelief. _Was she trying to play mind games with them? Their phone numbers were already-_

"Imai, did you really sell our phone numbers to the fan girls?!" Natsume yells into the mouthpiece, inwardly feeling utterly betrayed.

A short silence ensues from the other side of the line before Hotaru speaks again.

"… No, I didn't. What do you mean, _your numbers were sold to the fan girls_?"

"Someone – or _some people _– that know our phone numbers _somehow_ gave them to the fan girls or something. We don't know who, Hotaru. Our phones were blasted with spam messages barely 5 minutes ago. Luckily, we have spare numbers - _hey! How'd you know I switched my phone number?_" Ruka practically yelped in surprise.

"My phone's rigged to call everybody's numbers. The program runs in such a way that if the first number isn't available, the system automatically calls the back-up number," Hotaru explained in a monotone voice. "It's the **imaI-Phone-Contact-Perfect-System**, available for 150 Rabbits. Comes with discounted installation, only for members of the Inner Circle."

"Wha-"

"Anyway, no time to dawdle like you two idiots are doing. Hyuuga, your phones – were they stolen at any time in the past year?"

"No. We got them only a few months ago. From _you._"

"Oh yes, that's right… The **imaI-Phone **range of models correct? Well, since it doesn't seem like any of you idiots made any mistakes, I guess I'll have to check on the _other idiot_. She might've been careless somehow, and it's easy for others to target _her_. Call you both back later, and don't you _dare _pick up the phone late again, Nogi."

"Wait, Hotaru-"

**Beep.**

The two could only stare incredulously at each other. "What is _WRONG _with our lives, Natsume?! _First_ we get chased by fan girls in the dead of the night, are forced to hide out in the Northern Woods for _who-knows-how-long_, and _now_ we're trying to solve some weird mystery involving our phone numbers!" groaned Ruka in despair.

"… Hn."

* * *

Meanwhile, across the hallway from Hotaru Imai's room, a brunette with chocolate orbs and a sweet face sleeps in peace; her cute little nose is burrowed into a soft, downy pillow. Her dreams are filled with a bright shine to them, no matter what she's currently dreaming about. In this case, she's currently dreaming about seeing her _beloved boyfriend_ enjoying _every single chocolate_ she's _lovingly prepared for him_ the day before, especially for Valentine's Day. The Piyo clock on the wall reads "3.06 PM" and the second hand ticks softly on. Resting on the side-table beside her bed, adjacent to the open window where the curtains are swaying gently in the cold night wind, is a phone charger stand.

Nothing seems particularly out of order in this bedroom, except for one thing.

The pink phone belonging to Mikan Sakura is_ missing_.

* * *

In Hotaru's room, her fingers fly fast across the keyboard, immediately scripting a command to bring up her best friend Mikan's Sakura's room camera.

A video screen pops up and Hotaru presses the **Rewind **button. Her eyes narrow as she sees something… Very annoying.

The video feed, replayed, shows someone dressed in black, climbing through Mikan's open room window, grabbing the phone that's charging on her side-table, and leaving immediately.

All within just 5 seconds. The time on the video read **"1.56 AM"**.

Worse, the camera was mostly angled at Mikan's room's door, not at the window, so the thief's face couldn't be captured by the camera at all.

All Hotaru saw was one foot and a couple of hands. And a part of a large black cloak with a hood.

She frowned. It would be unlikely that there were any clues. The intruder had worn black gloves as well, so fingerprints would be impossible to collect.

_Why would anyone steal Mikan's phone just to get Hyuuga and Ru-__**Nogi's **__number? _wondered the Ice Queen. _And if it was a fan girl, why would she share their numbers? Wouldn't it make sense to keep them for herself? __**Then why?**_

Hotaru thought long and hard, but was forced to admit to herself after five minutes that she didn't know the answer. Maybe Hyuuga and Nogi had more clues.

She dialled _Ru-_**NOGI's** number again, ignoring the part of her sub-conscious busy laughing at her own stubborn mind.

* * *

**Somewhere in the Academy**

**Approximately 2.00 AM**

**February 14, 2013**

A person covered entirely in a black cloak, with black boots, gloves and a full face mask, jumped in through the window of a certain room with something pink in their hands.

"Finally… I have Mikan Sakura's pink phone. Time to take Natsume Hyuuga and Ruka Nogi's phone numbers and send them to every fan girl in the Academy…"

* * *

"**Bzzt. Bzzt. She's cold and she's cruel/But she knows-"**

This time, Ruka was a little quicker, stabbing the Answer button in a hurry while Natsume snorted all over again beside him.

"Hello? Hotaru?"

"I got it, you idiots. Someone stole the Idiot's phone about one hour ago and made off with it."

"_What_!?" Natsume's angry voice could distinctly be heard. Ruka glanced at him; strangely, his face had gone almost pale. "_One hour ago? Why didn't she go find you_?"

"She was – _and still is_ - asleep when the thief came. I couldn't get a head-shot so I have no visuals. Therefore, I'm forced to admit that _for once_, I don't have any leads. Right now, I'm checking the other cameras I've placed around the Academy to do a cross-reference. The thief was wearing all black," Hotaru reported in an almost-monotone voice.

"All black?" queried Ruka. "What sort of-"

"Call again if you get anything, Imai. We're shifting positions," Natsume announced suddenly, getting up from the grass where he'd been sitting cross-legged for the past few minutes.

"Understood, Hyuuga. And don't order me around. I know about _Mikan's phone_ too."

**Click.**

Ruka sighed as Hotaru cut off the connection for the second time that morning.

"Why would anyone steal Mikan-chan's phone and where are we shifting positi-_Natsume_?!"

_**Bamm!**_

The blonde boy looked at his best friend in surprise. Natsume had just punched the ground with his fist, leaving quite a gaping hole.

"I… I won't allow anyone to mess with Mikan. How _dare_ they steal her phone-" and with that, the rarely-reckless Black Cat took off in the direction of the Girls' Dorm, ostensibly heading for Mikan's room.

"Wait, Natsume! We shouldn't be going towards the Girls' Dorms! The fan girls-" Ruka called out in surprise.

"_To Hell with those fan girls! Polka's more important right now! I've got to get her phone back before she knows it's gone!" _The answer surprised Ruka even more as he too got up from the grass and started running after Natsume.

"Wha-Why? I know Mikan-chan's happiness is important to you – _pant_ – but is her phone _that important?!_"

"It is!" Natsume yelled back as the two tore down the forest path towards the Dorms. "Her Jii-san sent her that phone from outside the Academy for Christmas and her birthday last year, remember? It's the only hand phone in the Academy that's from the outside! She was only allowed to use it after her uncle cleared the parcel checks on her behalf! And I know Polka – she doesn't keep phone number records! _Her Jii-san sent her his house phone number together with the phone he gave and if she loses the number, she won't be able to contact him on Saturdays and I know she'll get really upset_!"

"I didn't know that!" Ruka yelled back as they neared the Girls' Dorms, their feet moving them as fast as they could go.

"Sorry, Ruka! She told me because – well, _you know_! Didn't think there was a need to tell anyone else other than me and Imai because she didn't want to worry any of you others!"

"No wonder she's the only one –_ pant_ - with a phone that wasn't built by Hotaru in the Academy. I remember some of the others asking her at the party last year about the phone, but all she said was that she got it from her uncle!"

"Like I said, she didn't want anyone to think she was getting special treatment _just because_ she's the high school principal's niece!"

By now, both boys were at the first floor backyard in the Girls' Dorm. Ruka watched in amazement as Natsume leapt nimbly onto a ledge on the second floor, and then easily threw his body towards a window on the third floor which Ruka estimated correctly to be Mikan-chan's room.

Natsume's fingers clutched as tightly as he could onto the ledge attached to Mikan's room window. He could see the curtains billowing on the inside. Heaving himself up with one thrust, he settled himself safely on the window ledge – one foot in the room and the other outside – before giving Ruka below a thumbs-up.

* * *

At the first floor, Ruka nodded back up at Natsume before deciding it would be safer to come up by the dorm's emergency stairs. He knew after seeing how easy it had been for Natsume to get into Mikan-chan's room that he'd obviously done it _lots of times_ before. Unfortunately for Ruka, he wasn't the one going on dangerous missions all the time, unlike Natsume. And he certainly had _no experience_ climbing into people's rooms! Oh, Hotaru would have a_ field day_ if she _ever_ photographed him doing something as _reckless_ as that! In any case, Natsume would probably open the door to Mikan's room for him later… _Though Ruka doubted he would want to be disturbed._

On the third floor, Hotaru swiftly checked the dorm corridor cameras to ascertain that Nogi was most definitely coming down the corridor towards her and Mikan's rooms. Which meant that Hyuuga was probably already in Mikan's room. _And Hyuuga probably wouldn't want to be disturbed_.

She sighed heavily and pressed a button on her phone, unlocking the electronic lock she'd placed on her room door.

It swung open just as a surprised Ruka came to a stop right outside her door.

_Perfect timing, _Hotaru mentally praised herself.

Ruka peeked into the room, seeing the light spilling out into the corridor, casting shadows around and about.

"Oh, Hotaru," he muttered, albeit a bit embarrassedly. "Should I come in…?"

"Whatever, bunny boy. Speaking of which, where _is _your bunny? Isn't it always with you?" Hotaru turned back to face her laptop, the camera feed from Mikan's room clearly showing Hyuuga already having pulled a chair to Mikan's bedside. He was currently staring at her out of his crimson eyes, watching over her while she slept.

Ruka sighed for the_ nth_ time this stupid Valentines' Day morning.

"I had to leave him in my room," he muttered in a regretful tone. "I was worried that it would get too scared, being out and about at midnight."

"So it's just you, huh…?" Hotaru swivelled back to face him again in her wheelie desk chair, eyeing him carefully, an unreadable expression plastered on her face.

Not knowing how else to express _No duh_, Ruka just nodded.

"Hmm…"

The surprisingly-short reply confused him.

_What's wrong with Imai today?_

* * *

In Mikan's room, the infamous fire caster sat on her desk chair, positioned by her bedside, just staring. He'd arrived earlier as quietly as he could, grateful that she hadn't awakened.

And just kept on staring since then.

Into her beautiful face, serene even while asleep, pretty eyelids fluttering in her dreams, her sweet nose and cherubic cheeks, and those innocent, kissable lips-

Natsume caught himself. No, he couldn't. Not today, of all days, and certainly not while she was asleep. If she caught him, he would be dead meat.

No.

_No._

Nervously, he inched back from the sleeping angel slightly.

_As a man._

He wouldn't do anything to undermine her pure innocence.

Not now. Not ever.

Satisfied with his apparent ability to rein himself in, he leaned back in the chair and just _thought. Thought about her, like he didn't already do 25 hours a day, every day._

_What was she to him, really?_

_A pretty girl, definitely. In heart, mind and spirit. Nothing better for the great Natsume Hyuuga. An idiotic girl who wears polka-dotted panties and screams bloody murder into his ear every –icrashintoyouroundthecorrido r- morning._

_His perfect girl._

_His first love, current love, only love._

_Ever._

_And he wouldn't change her for anything. Ever._

During his inward sappy moment of thought, he noticed the camera mounted to the wall.

Of course, Imai would be keeping an eye on them. Most likely Ruka was in her room too, spying on them.

_Poor Ruka_, Natsume momentarily pitied his best friend. Falling for the Ice Queen was like a hellish sort of _fate_, really.

* * *

**PAUSED.**

**Okay.**

**Hi guys, it's me. Obviously. Well, I took forever to write up to here – HOURS! – but I'm unable to finish it because I have to get off the comp. But I really wanted to publish this for V-Day 2013.**

**Let me just summarise. I'll make this one-shot into a two-parter instead. The mystery will be solved soonnnn xD (To the reviewer who's excited to read the rest of the story, I'm sorry but I can't use the computer for _too_ long today -14th February 2013- so I'm unable to update == I was allowed by the parental units to edit the many _many_ mistakes I've had in this chapter, however. Sorry but I WILL try to update as soon as possible! . The next chapter is currently half-written, and I MIGHT end up making this a trilogy - OTL/OAO)**

**Thank you all for reading and I love you guys.**

**Happy V-Day 2013! V3**

**Love, Yuka Azumi Yukihira's Ad (2012 -)**

**[P.S: JOIN OUR SITE ON FACEBOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY! (: Remove the dots on the link at the top of this story. Thanks~]**


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